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Geocapabilities: Toward An International Framework for Researching the Purposes and Values of Geography Education

Year 2013, Volume: 3 Issue: 3, 214 - 229, 01.09.2013

Abstract

GeoCapabilities is a transatlantic collaborative project for researching the purposes and values of geography education through a “capabilities approach”. Inspired by the writings of philosopher Amartya Sen and economist Martha Nussbaum, the capabilities approach provides a normative framework for understanding the broader aims of geography in education and how these aims may be shared internationally, irrespective of differences in the scope and sequencing of national geography standards. We posit a capabilities approach also offers significant practical benefits by clarifying for teachers the ways geography imparts a “powerful knowledge” and an essential perspective for life and citizenship in a highly interdependent world. This article reports the outcomes of the first phase of research for GeoCapabilities. A content analysis was performed for the purpose of auditing the national geography standards in the United States, England and Finland for evidence of capabilities as intended educational aims for geography in schools, specifically with regard to the geo-capabilities of making personal choices for sustainability, being creative and productive in a global economy and culture, and achieving personal autonomy. This analysis is followed by a synthesis showing how the results of the three national case studies potentially provide a shared conceptual basis for geography curriculum making for human capability development across national boundaries. The article concludes with recommendations for expanding the research and enhancing curriculum making from a capabilities approach.

References

  • Anderson, K. C., & Leinhardt, G. (2002). Maps as representations: Expert novice comparison of projection understanding. Cognition and Instruction, 20(3), 283–321.
  • Appadurai, A. (2004) The Capacity to Aspire: Culture and the Terms of Recognition, in Rao, Vijayendra; Walton, Michael, Culture and Public Action, Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, pp. 59–84.
  • Boni, A. and Walker, M. (eds.) (2013). Human Development and Capabilities: Re-imagining the university of the twenty-first century. New York: Routledge.
  • Borko, H., J. Whitcomb, and D. Liston. 2009. Wicked problems and other thoughts on issues of technology and teacher learning. Journal of Teacher Education 60 (1): 3-7.
  • Cattani, D. H. 2002. A Classroom of Her Own: How New Teachers Develop Instructional, Professional, and Cultural Competence. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
  • Chiodo, J. J. (1993). Mental maps: Preservice teachers' awareness of the world. Journal of Geography, 92(3), 110–117.
  • Conlin, H., Hawley, T., Powell, D., & Ritter, J. (2010) Learning from Young Adolescents: The Use of Structured Teacher Education Coursework to Help Beginning Teachers Investigate Middle School Students’ Intellectual Capabilities, Journal of Teacher Education September/October 2010 (61): 313-327.
  • Deleplace, M. et Niclot, D. (2005). L’apprentissage des concepts en histoire et en géographie. Enquête au collège et au Lycée. Préface de Nicole Lautier, Documents, actes et rapports pour la recherche. Reims: CRDP Champagne-Ardenne.
  • Diem, R. A. (1982). Measurements of social studies content knowledge in pre-service elementary education majors. Journal of Social Studies Research, 6(1), 8–12.
  • Falk, R. (1993). The making of global citizenship. In J. Brecher, J.B. Childs, & J. Cutler. (Eds.), Global Visions: Beyond the new world order. (pp. 39–50). Boston, MA: South End Press.
  • Feiman-Nemser, S. 2001. From preparation to practice: Designing a continuum to strengthen and sustain teaching. Teachers College Record 103 (6):1013 - 1055.
  • Frazier, C., and Boehm, R. (2012) Using technology for geography teacher education: Webbased professional development. Review of International Geographical Education Online 2 (1): 78-94.
  • Freeman, B. (2010) The Efficacy of a Digital Mathematics Intervention for English Language Learners in U.S. High Schools: An Analysis Using Sen's Capabilities Approach. Doctoral dissertation, Fielding Graduate University.
  • Gaudelli, W. & Heilman, E. (2009). Reconceptualizing geography as democratic global citizenship education. Teachers College Record, 111(11), 2647-2677.
  • Geography Education Standards Project. (1994). Geography for life: National geography standards. Washington, DC: National Geographic Research and Exploration.
  • Gerber, Rod (2003) The global scene for geographical education. In Gerber, Rod (ed.) International handbook on geographical education. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
  • Gersmehl, P. (2008). Teaching Geography, 2 nd Edition. New York: Guilford Press.
  • Grosvenor Center for Geographic Education. 2012. High school and middle school geography requirements. San Marcos, TX: Grosvenor Center for Geographic Education.
  • Hart, C.S. (2009) Quo Vadis? The Capability Space and New Directions for the Philosophy of Education Research, Studies in Philosophy and Education, Vol 28, pp 391-402.
  • Harris, J., Mishra, P., & Koehler, M.J. (2009). Teachers’ technological pedagogical content knowledge and learning activity types: Curriculum-based technology integration reframed. Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 41(4), 393-416.
  • Harvey, K. R. (1988) Why teacher leadership? Journal of Teacher Education 39 (1): 28-31.
  • Hattie, J (2009), Visible Learning: A Synthesis of over 800 Meta-Analyses Relating to Achievement. London: Routledge.
  • Heffron, S. G., & Downs, R. M. (Eds.) (2012). Geography for life: National geography standards (2nd ed.). Washington, DC: National Council for Geographic Education.
  • Hinchliffe, G. (2007) Beyond Key Skills: the Capability Approach to Personal Development. Prospero, 13(3), 5-12.
  • Hinchliffe, G. (2009), Capability and Deliberation, Studies in Philosophy and Education, Vol. No. 5, p. 403-413
  • Hollywood, E., Egdell, V., McQuaid, R. and Michel-Schertges, D. (2012) Methodological Issues in Operationalising the Capability Approach in Empirical Research: an Example of Cross-Country Research on Youth Unemployment in the EU, Social Work and Society, International Online Journal, 10 (1) (online) ISSN 1613-8953 http://nbnresolving.de/urn:nbn:de:hbz:464-sws-182
  • Kuklys, W. (2005) Amartya Sen's Capability Approach: Theoretical Insights and Empirical Applications, Berlin: Springer.
  • Lambert, D. (2009a) A Different View, Geography, 94, 2, pp 119-125
  • Lambert, D. (2009b) Geography in Education: lost in the post? A Professorial Inaugural Lecture, London: IoE
  • Lambert, D. and Morgan, J. (2010) Teaching Geography: a conceptual approach, Maidenhead: Open University Press.
  • Lambert, D (2011a) Reviewing the Case for Geography, and the ‘knowledge turn’ in the English National Curriculum, The Curriculum Journal, 22, 2, pp243-264
  • Lambert, D (2011b) Reframing School Geography: a capabilities approach, in Butt G W (2011) Geography, Education and the Future, London: Continuum
  • Leat, D., Ulrike, T., and Reid, A. (2012) The Epistemological Fog in Realising Learning to Learn in European Curriculum Policies, European Educational Research Journal, 11(3), 400-412.
  • Marzano, R (2003), What Works in Schools: Translating research into action. Alexandria: ASCD.
  • Metzler, J. & Woessmann, L. (2012) The impact of teacher subject knowledge on student achievement: Evidence from within-teacher within-student variation, Journal of Development Economics, 99(2): 486-496.
  • Nussbaum, M. and Sen, A. (eds) (1993) The Quality of Life. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
  • Reinfried, S. (2006). Conceptual change in physical geography and environmental sciences through mental model building: The example of groundwater. International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education, 15(1), 41–61.
  • Rubin, C. (2013) The global search for education: What is the fourth way? The Huffington Post, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/c-m-rubin/the-global-search-foredu_59_b_2564140.html
  • Saito, M. (2003) Amartya Sen’s Capability approach to Education: A critical exploration, Journal of Philosophy of Education, (1):17-33.
  • Segall, A. (2002). What do prospective social studies teachers in the U.S. know about Canada? Michigan Journal of Social Studies, 14(1), 7–10.
  • Segall, A., & Helfenbein, R. J. (2008). Research on K-12 geography education. In L. S. Levstik, & C. A. Tyson (Eds.), Handbook of research in social studies education (pp. 259–283). New York, NY: Routledge.
  • Shulman, L. (1987). Knowledge and teaching: Foundations of the new reform. Harvard Educational Review, 57(1), 1-22.
  • Tikly, L. & Barrett, A. (2011) Social Justice, Capabilities and the Quality of Education in Low Income Countries, International Journal of Educational Development, 31(1): 3–14.
  • Unterhalter, E. (2003) The Capabilities Approach and Gender Education: An Examination of South African Complexities, Theory and Research in Education, (1): 7-22.
  • Wadley, D. (2008) The Garden of Peace, Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 98, 3:650.
  • Walker, M. (2006) Higher education pedagogies: A capabilities approach. Berkshire, UK: Society for Research into Higher Education & Open University Press.
  • Yager, R. ed. (2005) Exemplary Science: Best Practices in Professional Development. Arlington, VA: NSTA Press.
  • Young, M (2008) Bringing Knowledge Back In: From social constructivism to social realism in the sociology of education, Abingdon: Routledge.
  • Young, M. and Muller, J. (2010) Three educational scenarios for the future: lessons from the sociology of knowledge. European Journal of Education, 45(1): 11-27.
  • Young, M (2011) The future of education in a knowledge society: The radical case for a subject-based curriculum, Journal of the Pacific Circle Consortium for Education Vol. 22, No. 1, December 2010, 21–32.
  • Biographical statements Dr. Michael Solem is Educational Affairs Director at the Association of American Geographers. His current research focuses on international education, graduate education, workforce development, and teacher preparation in geography. David Lambert is Professor of Geography Education at the Institute of Education, University of London. Before that he was Chief Executive of the Geographical Association, committed to strengthening the place of geography in the school curriculum and supporting the professional development of teachers through curriculum making activities. He co-authored (with John Morgan) Teaching Geography 11-18: a conceptual approach and is currently working on a book with Michael Young on Knowledge, curriculum and social justice. Sirpa Tani is Professor of Geography and Environmental Education at the University of Helsinki, Finland. Her research activities deal with geography education, geographies of young people and visual methodologies.

Geocapabilities: Toward An International Framework for Researching the Purposes and Values of Geography Education

Year 2013, Volume: 3 Issue: 3, 214 - 229, 01.09.2013

Abstract

References

  • Anderson, K. C., & Leinhardt, G. (2002). Maps as representations: Expert novice comparison of projection understanding. Cognition and Instruction, 20(3), 283–321.
  • Appadurai, A. (2004) The Capacity to Aspire: Culture and the Terms of Recognition, in Rao, Vijayendra; Walton, Michael, Culture and Public Action, Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, pp. 59–84.
  • Boni, A. and Walker, M. (eds.) (2013). Human Development and Capabilities: Re-imagining the university of the twenty-first century. New York: Routledge.
  • Borko, H., J. Whitcomb, and D. Liston. 2009. Wicked problems and other thoughts on issues of technology and teacher learning. Journal of Teacher Education 60 (1): 3-7.
  • Cattani, D. H. 2002. A Classroom of Her Own: How New Teachers Develop Instructional, Professional, and Cultural Competence. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
  • Chiodo, J. J. (1993). Mental maps: Preservice teachers' awareness of the world. Journal of Geography, 92(3), 110–117.
  • Conlin, H., Hawley, T., Powell, D., & Ritter, J. (2010) Learning from Young Adolescents: The Use of Structured Teacher Education Coursework to Help Beginning Teachers Investigate Middle School Students’ Intellectual Capabilities, Journal of Teacher Education September/October 2010 (61): 313-327.
  • Deleplace, M. et Niclot, D. (2005). L’apprentissage des concepts en histoire et en géographie. Enquête au collège et au Lycée. Préface de Nicole Lautier, Documents, actes et rapports pour la recherche. Reims: CRDP Champagne-Ardenne.
  • Diem, R. A. (1982). Measurements of social studies content knowledge in pre-service elementary education majors. Journal of Social Studies Research, 6(1), 8–12.
  • Falk, R. (1993). The making of global citizenship. In J. Brecher, J.B. Childs, & J. Cutler. (Eds.), Global Visions: Beyond the new world order. (pp. 39–50). Boston, MA: South End Press.
  • Feiman-Nemser, S. 2001. From preparation to practice: Designing a continuum to strengthen and sustain teaching. Teachers College Record 103 (6):1013 - 1055.
  • Frazier, C., and Boehm, R. (2012) Using technology for geography teacher education: Webbased professional development. Review of International Geographical Education Online 2 (1): 78-94.
  • Freeman, B. (2010) The Efficacy of a Digital Mathematics Intervention for English Language Learners in U.S. High Schools: An Analysis Using Sen's Capabilities Approach. Doctoral dissertation, Fielding Graduate University.
  • Gaudelli, W. & Heilman, E. (2009). Reconceptualizing geography as democratic global citizenship education. Teachers College Record, 111(11), 2647-2677.
  • Geography Education Standards Project. (1994). Geography for life: National geography standards. Washington, DC: National Geographic Research and Exploration.
  • Gerber, Rod (2003) The global scene for geographical education. In Gerber, Rod (ed.) International handbook on geographical education. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
  • Gersmehl, P. (2008). Teaching Geography, 2 nd Edition. New York: Guilford Press.
  • Grosvenor Center for Geographic Education. 2012. High school and middle school geography requirements. San Marcos, TX: Grosvenor Center for Geographic Education.
  • Hart, C.S. (2009) Quo Vadis? The Capability Space and New Directions for the Philosophy of Education Research, Studies in Philosophy and Education, Vol 28, pp 391-402.
  • Harris, J., Mishra, P., & Koehler, M.J. (2009). Teachers’ technological pedagogical content knowledge and learning activity types: Curriculum-based technology integration reframed. Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 41(4), 393-416.
  • Harvey, K. R. (1988) Why teacher leadership? Journal of Teacher Education 39 (1): 28-31.
  • Hattie, J (2009), Visible Learning: A Synthesis of over 800 Meta-Analyses Relating to Achievement. London: Routledge.
  • Heffron, S. G., & Downs, R. M. (Eds.) (2012). Geography for life: National geography standards (2nd ed.). Washington, DC: National Council for Geographic Education.
  • Hinchliffe, G. (2007) Beyond Key Skills: the Capability Approach to Personal Development. Prospero, 13(3), 5-12.
  • Hinchliffe, G. (2009), Capability and Deliberation, Studies in Philosophy and Education, Vol. No. 5, p. 403-413
  • Hollywood, E., Egdell, V., McQuaid, R. and Michel-Schertges, D. (2012) Methodological Issues in Operationalising the Capability Approach in Empirical Research: an Example of Cross-Country Research on Youth Unemployment in the EU, Social Work and Society, International Online Journal, 10 (1) (online) ISSN 1613-8953 http://nbnresolving.de/urn:nbn:de:hbz:464-sws-182
  • Kuklys, W. (2005) Amartya Sen's Capability Approach: Theoretical Insights and Empirical Applications, Berlin: Springer.
  • Lambert, D. (2009a) A Different View, Geography, 94, 2, pp 119-125
  • Lambert, D. (2009b) Geography in Education: lost in the post? A Professorial Inaugural Lecture, London: IoE
  • Lambert, D. and Morgan, J. (2010) Teaching Geography: a conceptual approach, Maidenhead: Open University Press.
  • Lambert, D (2011a) Reviewing the Case for Geography, and the ‘knowledge turn’ in the English National Curriculum, The Curriculum Journal, 22, 2, pp243-264
  • Lambert, D (2011b) Reframing School Geography: a capabilities approach, in Butt G W (2011) Geography, Education and the Future, London: Continuum
  • Leat, D., Ulrike, T., and Reid, A. (2012) The Epistemological Fog in Realising Learning to Learn in European Curriculum Policies, European Educational Research Journal, 11(3), 400-412.
  • Marzano, R (2003), What Works in Schools: Translating research into action. Alexandria: ASCD.
  • Metzler, J. & Woessmann, L. (2012) The impact of teacher subject knowledge on student achievement: Evidence from within-teacher within-student variation, Journal of Development Economics, 99(2): 486-496.
  • Nussbaum, M. and Sen, A. (eds) (1993) The Quality of Life. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
  • Reinfried, S. (2006). Conceptual change in physical geography and environmental sciences through mental model building: The example of groundwater. International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education, 15(1), 41–61.
  • Rubin, C. (2013) The global search for education: What is the fourth way? The Huffington Post, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/c-m-rubin/the-global-search-foredu_59_b_2564140.html
  • Saito, M. (2003) Amartya Sen’s Capability approach to Education: A critical exploration, Journal of Philosophy of Education, (1):17-33.
  • Segall, A. (2002). What do prospective social studies teachers in the U.S. know about Canada? Michigan Journal of Social Studies, 14(1), 7–10.
  • Segall, A., & Helfenbein, R. J. (2008). Research on K-12 geography education. In L. S. Levstik, & C. A. Tyson (Eds.), Handbook of research in social studies education (pp. 259–283). New York, NY: Routledge.
  • Shulman, L. (1987). Knowledge and teaching: Foundations of the new reform. Harvard Educational Review, 57(1), 1-22.
  • Tikly, L. & Barrett, A. (2011) Social Justice, Capabilities and the Quality of Education in Low Income Countries, International Journal of Educational Development, 31(1): 3–14.
  • Unterhalter, E. (2003) The Capabilities Approach and Gender Education: An Examination of South African Complexities, Theory and Research in Education, (1): 7-22.
  • Wadley, D. (2008) The Garden of Peace, Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 98, 3:650.
  • Walker, M. (2006) Higher education pedagogies: A capabilities approach. Berkshire, UK: Society for Research into Higher Education & Open University Press.
  • Yager, R. ed. (2005) Exemplary Science: Best Practices in Professional Development. Arlington, VA: NSTA Press.
  • Young, M (2008) Bringing Knowledge Back In: From social constructivism to social realism in the sociology of education, Abingdon: Routledge.
  • Young, M. and Muller, J. (2010) Three educational scenarios for the future: lessons from the sociology of knowledge. European Journal of Education, 45(1): 11-27.
  • Young, M (2011) The future of education in a knowledge society: The radical case for a subject-based curriculum, Journal of the Pacific Circle Consortium for Education Vol. 22, No. 1, December 2010, 21–32.
  • Biographical statements Dr. Michael Solem is Educational Affairs Director at the Association of American Geographers. His current research focuses on international education, graduate education, workforce development, and teacher preparation in geography. David Lambert is Professor of Geography Education at the Institute of Education, University of London. Before that he was Chief Executive of the Geographical Association, committed to strengthening the place of geography in the school curriculum and supporting the professional development of teachers through curriculum making activities. He co-authored (with John Morgan) Teaching Geography 11-18: a conceptual approach and is currently working on a book with Michael Young on Knowledge, curriculum and social justice. Sirpa Tani is Professor of Geography and Environmental Education at the University of Helsinki, Finland. Her research activities deal with geography education, geographies of young people and visual methodologies.
There are 51 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language Turkish
Journal Section Articles
Authors

Michael Solem This is me

David Lambert This is me

Sirpa Tanı This is me

Publication Date September 1, 2013
Submission Date July 5, 2014
Published in Issue Year 2013 Volume: 3 Issue: 3

Cite

APA Solem, M., Lambert, D., & Tanı, S. (2013). Geocapabilities: Toward An International Framework for Researching the Purposes and Values of Geography Education. Review of International Geographical Education Online, 3(3), 214-229.
AMA Solem M, Lambert D, Tanı S. Geocapabilities: Toward An International Framework for Researching the Purposes and Values of Geography Education. Review of International Geographical Education Online. September 2013;3(3):214-229.
Chicago Solem, Michael, David Lambert, and Sirpa Tanı. “Geocapabilities: Toward An International Framework for Researching the Purposes and Values of Geography Education”. Review of International Geographical Education Online 3, no. 3 (September 2013): 214-29.
EndNote Solem M, Lambert D, Tanı S (September 1, 2013) Geocapabilities: Toward An International Framework for Researching the Purposes and Values of Geography Education. Review of International Geographical Education Online 3 3 214–229.
IEEE M. Solem, D. Lambert, and S. Tanı, “Geocapabilities: Toward An International Framework for Researching the Purposes and Values of Geography Education”, Review of International Geographical Education Online, vol. 3, no. 3, pp. 214–229, 2013.
ISNAD Solem, Michael et al. “Geocapabilities: Toward An International Framework for Researching the Purposes and Values of Geography Education”. Review of International Geographical Education Online 3/3 (September 2013), 214-229.
JAMA Solem M, Lambert D, Tanı S. Geocapabilities: Toward An International Framework for Researching the Purposes and Values of Geography Education. Review of International Geographical Education Online. 2013;3:214–229.
MLA Solem, Michael et al. “Geocapabilities: Toward An International Framework for Researching the Purposes and Values of Geography Education”. Review of International Geographical Education Online, vol. 3, no. 3, 2013, pp. 214-29.
Vancouver Solem M, Lambert D, Tanı S. Geocapabilities: Toward An International Framework for Researching the Purposes and Values of Geography Education. Review of International Geographical Education Online. 2013;3(3):214-29.